Recent Posts
Culture October 5, 2018
We all scream for ice cream.
Los Angeles is full of the best of the best, and this also applies to desserts. Sometimes it feels like a new LA dessert place pops up every day. Whether you’ve lived in Los Angeles your whole life or you’re only visiting, there’s always a chance you could stumble across a sweet you’ve never tried before.
ENTITY has rounded up 50 outstanding dessert shops near you in Los Angeles. We’ve got a mix of local favorites and world-famous choices to check out.
Dig into these sweet shops now.
Bae is a coffee and pastry shop located in Little Tokyo. They sell hand-pressed lemonade, which includes their “baeberry” flavor made from blackberries.
Their drinks are definitely worth a taste, but their soft-serve is what really draws the eye. The plump swirls, heart-shaped sprinkles and colorful cones mesmerize customers.
So make sure to take a pic! Your Instagram feed will thank you.
Address: 369 E. 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
The ice cream at Carmela Ice Cream is made with local dairy. The owners Jessica and Zach opened up shop in 2011 with a mission to create handmade, organic frozen treats. So if you’re looking for a healthier type of ice cream, Carmela Ice Cream is a must.
The folks at Carmela also offer make-your-own-ice-cream classes! They have three locations in LA, so head over to the nearest one for a fun, handmade experience.
Address: 2495 E Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104
Milk Tavern offers “boozy ice cream,” which is exactly how it sounds: ice cream infused with alcohol. You can try their spiked sweets along with their traditional desserts to really get your taste buds working.
Milk Tavern also claims to have the largest cereal bar on the West Coast, so check them out for a variety of the classic breakfast food. Along with “boozy ice cream” and cereal, Milk Tavern offers rainbow cakes and ice cream burritos.
Thats’s right. Ice cream burritos. Coming in at $8, these cotton candy ice cream concoctions are a must for the dessert connoisseur. They also offer milkshakes, ice cream swirls, coffee & tea and alcoholic drinks.
Address: 528 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90020
This family-owned ice cream shop is famous for its charcoal soft serve ice cream and cones. Little Damage offers seasonal flavors with at least one vegan option in rotation! Located in downtown Los Angeles, their dark desserts are a must-do Instagrammable experience.
Address: 700 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90014
Scoops is a local hidden gem. Located near Los Angeles City College, Scoops offers a plethora of unusual homemade ice cream options.
The flavors at Scoops change every day, so you never know what you’re going to get. Past flavors have included blackberry with balsamic vinegar, banana cream oreo, coconut jasmine, goat cheese, tang lychee and maple cinnamon.
Don’t know what to order? Brown bread is a Scoops staple flavor. It may sound weird, but it’s actually delicious, so don’t walk away without giving that flavor a try.
Various locations: Hollywood, Highland Park, Chinatown and the OC
Cauldron Ice Cream is well-known for its ice cream rose designs and puffle waffle cones, as pictured above. Warning: the rose swirls are so beautiful, you might hesitate to eat them.
Cauldron’s flavors change every month, but staples include Earl Grey Lavender and the Sun and the Stars (made with oolong, jasmine and green tea). Along with fun ice cream designs, Cauldron uses nitrogen liquid to make their ice cream, so the entire outing is an experience.
Various locations: Santa Ana, Cerritos, Glendale and San Diego. More coming soon.
McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams has been a long-time favorite in LA County. They’ve been in business since 1949, and their ice cream is made from scratch, sans preservatives. McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams is worth checking out if you want flavor and history all wrapped in one delicious dessert.
Various locations: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Studio City and Los Feliz
Blockheads Shavery offers what they call “Snow Cream,” or shaved ice cream inspired by Asian desserts. It’s different, fun and worth a try if you’re looking for something fresh and new.
Some of Blockheads Shavery’s ice cream flavors are seasonal. Their year-round toppings, however, include egg pudding, lychee, honeydew, mochi, grass jelly, pumpkin spice cornbread and much more.
Address: 11311 Mississippi Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Along with delivering delicious ice cream and drinks, Snow Monster is eco-friendly and sustainable. Their iconic light-bulb-shaped glass containers are reusable, so patrons can take them home and bring them back to Snow Monster stores.
Snow Monster also offers made-to-order macaron ice cream sandwiches, which are baked daily.
Various locations: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Westminster, Huntington Park and Irvine
You can’t miss Bumsan Organic Milk Bar’s pink walls while driving down Western Ave in Koreatown. As the name suggests, Bumsan’s frozen treats are organic. Their dairy comes from Korea via Bumsan Dairy Co., which makes non-GMO, antibiotic-free, 100% USDA certified organic dairy products. Their seasonal flavors are always on rotation and they have customizable cones decorated with cereal ranging from Froot Loops to Fruity Pebbles.
Address: 534 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90020
The Museum of Ice Cream first started in 2016, in New York City. It includes interactive, brightly colored rooms and exhibits all centered around candy and ice cream. Due to its immense popularity, the Museum of Ice Cream has since moved to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. The Museum of Ice Cream is still on the move today, offering its fun to different parts of the United States.
But their ice cream is available in most Target stores across the U.S. They have seven flavors available for purchase, which include churro, banana and cherry flavors. You can learn more here.
Locations vary.
The MILK shop is an ice cream parlor with two popular locations in Los Angeles. They offer ice cream, shakes, sundaes and their famous macaron ice cream sandwiches. Their sandwiches are usually covered with various cereal toppings, which make them quite the mouthful (in the best way)!
Locations: Beverly and Silverlake.
Yellow Business brings Hong Kong street food to the avenues of Los Angeles. They feature ice cream covered in chocolate, pocky sticks and koala crackers— or really any combination of candy you can think of. Their unicorn ice cream comes with puffle cones: a combination guaranteed to give you a sugar rush.
Their catering service is active in the summer. You can find them at 626 Night Market and at Smorgasburg LA, or you can contact them to cater for an event.
Pictured above is Van Leeuwen Ice Cream’s Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crunch flavor. (Now try saying that ten times fast.) They make their ice cream with milk, cream, organic egg yolks, cane sugar and whatever flavor their ice cream demands.
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream’s story starts on the streets of New York in the form of an ice cream truck. Since 2008, they’ve created fresh ice cream as well as non-dairy options for vegans. Check out their vegan passionfruit and lemonade.
Address: 300 S. Santa Fe Ave, Suite R, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Boba Bear offers a plethora of services and food in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Seoul. In LA, order a tasty taro boba drink, savory pastrami sandwich and ice cream waffle sandwich all in the same place. Their drink, food and shisha menus are extensive. For dessert connoisseurs, Boba Bear offers s’mores, “Berry Bear,” and matcha green tea as options for their waffle sandwiches.
Various Locations: Koreatown, West Los Angeles, Rowland Heights and El Monte
Donuts are ice cream’s best friend at Donut Friend. Their donut-jam sandwiches are an especially popular signature compilation. Try their Strawberrylab, a raised donut filled with strawberries and cream.
Donut Friends’ limited edition treats are where the food gets really fun. Previous items included mango, rosewater and matcha flavors. Their “Misfits” selection includes affogatos and your choice of ice cream-donut sandwiches. They also offer DIY Donuts, where you pick your base, filling and toppings. With all these options, you’ll definitely be making a friend of Donut Friend.
Address: 5107 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90065
The owners of Wanderlust Creamery have traveled across the world, and these travels have influenced their ice cream flavors. For example, their visits to Thailand inspired a traditional vegan sticky rice mango flavor. Other options— whether seasonal or signature — were inspired by locations like Peru, New Zealand, Hawaii, Iceland, Malaysia and more.
Their unexpected flavor combos are either all-natural dairy or dairy-free. Let your taste buds travel across the world!
Various Locations: Venice, Atwater Village and Tarzana.
Located in downtown Los Angeles, Bottega Louie offers gourmet meals in a marble-clad restaurant. The restaurant also includes a small bakery, where they sell French cakes and signature macarons.
Their macarons come in flavors like pistachio, coconut, earl grey, violet cassis, rose, espresso and mango. On your birthday, try the birthday cake flavor to celebrate!
Other products include chocolates, cookies, candy, hot cocoa, meringues, preserves and coffee.
Address: 700 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90017
Fatamorgana Gelato started in Rome, and it traveled all the way to Los Angeles in 2017. They offer a plethora of gelato flavors in Studio City, which also come with gluten-free options. We recommend the Madagascar Chocolate and hazelnut gelato.
Address: 12021 Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 91604
Salt and Straw is based in Oregon, but luckily, it also found popularity in Los Angeles. Their scoops include goat cheese, habanero, marionberry, birthday cake, hazelnut, honey lavender and vegan roasted strawberry coconut. Discover their handmade flavors in your area today.
Various Locations: Downtown LA, Culver City, Studio City and West Hollywood
Located in the heart of Little Tokyo, Mikawaya offers traditional mochi ice cream to anyone who can decide on a flavor. (It’s harder than it looks.)
Mikawaya’s mochi is made in the traditional Japanese sweet rice dough and filled with original Mikawaya ice cream. Their ice cream is also sold in boxes at grocers such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, but try to visit the original store for the full experience!
Address: 118 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Fonuts best describes itself as “Enlightened Donuts: Always baked, never fried.”
That’s right. This LA bake shop offers you goods straight from the oven and not the fryer. These healthier donuts have signature flavors like strawberry buttermilk, vanilla latte, blueberry, banana chocolate, churro, raspberry and more.
The Fonuts location is near the Grove, so it’s the perfect after-shopping stop. Check out their seasonal options!
Address: 8104 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048
Sweet Rose Creamery originates from Santa Monica and sells its own homemade ice cream with locally sourced ingredients. Try to catch their seasonal flavors before they go! We recommend the summer corn, blueberry muffin and peaches & cream.
Sweet Rose Creamery also offers dairy free options and custom ice cream birthday cakes. Catering options are available as well.
Various Locations: Studio City, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Mid City and Pacific Palisades
Head over to Persian Square in Westwood to try Saffron & Rose‘s decadent Persian ice cream. Founder Ali Kashani-Rafye started making ice cream in Tehran 75 years ago. In the 1970s, his family brought this Persian-style ice cream to California, and they’ve stayed ever since.
Saffron & Rose offers jasmine, saffron, rose and mixed berry as some of their ice cream flavors. They also sell traditional Persian desserts as well. Check them out today in Westwood.
Address: 1387 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Jeni’s has many locations across the U.S. This ice cream chain is dedicated to perfect customer satisfaction by paying close attention to ice cream quality and service.
You can visit the shop’s various locations in LA, or you can order pints of their many delicious flavors online. So whether you want to experience the shop or eat dessert in bed, Jeni’s caters to your needs.
Various Locations: Los Feliz, Venice, Larchmont and Calabasas
La Tropézienne is a glamorous, aesthetically pleasing French pastry haven. The marble and gold decor adds class to your dessert experience. Order coffee alongside your pastries for the perfect morning breakfast.
La Tropézienne’s founders first opened the bakery in France, 1992, but it opened on La Brea Blvd, Los Angeles in 2017. They offer croissants, brioche and pain au chocolat. For any foodies with an appetite for authentic French goods, this is the place for you.
Address: 211 S. La Brea Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Amorino Gelato has shops all around the world. At its Beverly Hills location, Amorino offers coffee, ice cream waffle pastries and delicious rose-shaped gelato to the citizens of Los Angeles. Raspberry, strawberry and lemon are popular flavors, but you can explore other flavors on their expansive gelato selection in person.
Address: 9605 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills 90210
Magpies SoftServe makes all of their soft serve and toppings in-house. Their creative soft serve flavors include horchata, Yuzu honey (a traditional Korean tea) and Cuban espresso, among others. Magpies also offers soft serve pies and pints of their ice cream to enjoy on-the-go!
Various Locations: Silverlake, Tarzana
Sprinkles Cupcakes & Ice Cream is well-known throughout the United States. Besides selling delicious cupcakes, Sprinkles also has many ice cream flavors up for grabs. Try their mint chip, cookie dough, mango sorbet, salted caramel or cap’n crunch options.
Various Locations: Glendale, Beverly Hills, The Grove, Anaheim, USC, Westlake Village
Support female business owners with COOLHAUS! The COOLHAUS shop is LA-based and women-owned, according to their Instagram. They sell their iconic ice cream sandwiches in ice cream shops and at selected grocery stores.
COOLHAUS ice cream features both pints and bars. Some ice cream combinations include snickerdoodle/strawberry, double chocolate/cream & cookies and double chocolate/dirty mint chip. They also provide next-day shipping for those who can’t visit their shop!
You can find their ice cream trucks here.
Various locations: Culver City and Pasadena.
True to its name, Honeymee offers soft serve ice cream made from “pure honeycomb.” They also boast ice cream shakes as well as their signature soft serve with honey or chocolate drizzle. Honeymee’s ice cream is creamy and delicious, but don’t forget to try their green tea shake!
Various Locations: Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Santa Monica and Gardena
Mr Holmes Bakehouse is all about “putting carbs back in their place.” They offer many delicious pastries, but customers should mainly look out for their seasonal menus. Summer brings desserts like the “Elote Danish,” the “Rest in Peach” croissant and the “Plum Tea” flaky tree.
In addition to Mr Holmes Bakehouse’s baked desserts, they also sell cute pins!
Various Locations: Highland Park and Larchmont.
Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars is Culver City’s gem of a paleteria. If you don’t know what a paleteria is, that means you likely haven’t tried a paleta, which is a traditional Mexican popsicle dessert. If that’s the case, you need to go here immediately.
Mateo’s popular paleta favorites include cactus, coconut, guava, leche and watermelon flavors. They also serve gelato, smoothies, ice cream in giant waffle cones and freshly sliced fruit with a side of tajín. A great way to cool off on a hot summer’s day.
Various Locations: Midcity and Pico-Union
At Drips and Swirls, get ready for soft serve and nitro cold brew. Try signature frozen treats like the Korean Melon Bar and the Charcoal Crispy Rice with Toasted Rice Puffs. Or, if you’re looking for something with a little more coffee, order their nitro floats.
Address: 3076 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005
Westwood’s Diddy Riese is where all UCLA students go for a sugar fix. Diddy Riese has been serving ice cream sandwiches, brownies and cookies since 1983. They also sell ice cream sundaes and offer online shipping!
If you’re looking for recommendations, white chocolate macadamia cookie sandwich with chocolate ice cream is a Diddy Riese signature treat.
Address: 926 Broxton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024
The owners of Butter’s Ice Cream have lived in Silver Lake for 20 years, and upon opening the ice cream shop in fall 2017, they have dutifully served their community’s sugary desires. The current menu includes flavors like baklava and the “Prince of Persia” (saffron, rose water, turmeric and cardamom). They also have an expanding vegan menu they’ve been working on since their soft opening.
Address: 2925 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Afters set out to create an ice-cream-eating experience, and they’ve certainly succeeded. Their crazy treats include ice cream hybrids (see above) as well as a pastry dubbed “the MilkyBun.” To make the MilkyBun, Afters fills a glazed bun with ice cream. Then they heat it. The dessert creates a hot-cold sensation for your taste buds.
Afters’ unique flavors include Jasmine Milk Tea, Milk and Cereal, Cookie Monster and more.
Various Locations: Alhambra, Azusa, Cerritos, Chino Hills, Irvine, Long Beach, Pasadena, Riverside, Venice and more.
Eiswelt Gelato is located in the heart of Little Saigon, and it’s definitely the most adorable shop on this list. Eiswelt Gelato customizes your gelato into bunnies, unicorns, pigs, dogs, teddy bears or ducks. The treats are handcrafted in front of you and can be made out of Rose Lemonade, French Vanilla, Durian or any of the other 19 flavors the gelato shops boasts.
Address: 9605 Bolsa Ave, Westminster, CA 92683
Chelo Creamery’s main attraction is their Chelò rolls, or rolled Thai ice cream (pictured above). But they’ve also got Italian ices, shaved ice and waffle sundaes. If you can’t decide between rolls, ices or waffles, take a group of friends and share the options!
Address: 18558 Gale Ave #158, City of Industry, CA 91748
Popbar offers handcrafted gelato on a stick. They also make Popwiches (Popbar gelato bars between your choice of cookie), gelato shakes, “perfectly sized popbites” and party pops for catering.
Fun fact: Popbar also has shops in Canada, Russia, Panama and Singapore.
Various Locations: Anaheim, Arcadia, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Torrance
The Loop Churros offers brilliantly flavored churros dipped inside soft serve. The churro glaze options—including choco crunch, cookies & cream, matcha crunch and sprinkle berry—will leave your stomach growling and indecisive. The cookie dough, marshmallows and cheesecake toppings will only add to your indecision.
Address: 9729 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, CA 92683
Established in 2002, Frostbites Crepes & Frozen Delights offers, well, crepes and frozen delights (like sorbets, ice cream and shaved ice). Their icy flavors are refreshingly cool and fruity for a hot day. Options include passionfruit, strawberry, mango, taro sorbet and blueberry.
Various Locations: Cerritos, Cypress, Long Beach, Riverside and Torrance
Originally founded in Oregon, Voodoo Doughnut is famous for its unusual donuts and lively decor. Customers especially love to try their signature VooDoo Doll Bacon Maple Bar, Portland Cream and Old Dirty Bastard options.
The yeast-based bakery also has vegan alternatives and offers cake donuts as well.
Address: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
Creamistry is best known for their nitrogen ice cream experience. The thick, creamy result does not disappoint. If you’re looking for recommendations, their Cookie Butter base is a Creamistry staple, but don’t hesitate to try out the Fruity Pebble or Captain Crunch flavors (pictured above)!
Various Locations: Glendale, Beverly Hills, Koreatown and Long Beach
This hip coffee shop offers fried chicken, savory food, creative donuts, pastries and coffee. If a group of friends are all craving different snacks, Birdies will satisfy all their needs.
Donuts include birthday cake donut holes, lemon thyme pistachio donuts and horchata twist with dulce de leche. The above pictured 24k gold-leaf donuts are limited edition, ranging from $25-$45 each when Birdies offers them seasonally!
Address: 314 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Located in Koreatown, CottonHi sells organic, homemade cotton candy topped on soft serve ice cream. If you’d like, you can ask for fruit with your soft serve.
Their cotton candy is made without dye or preservatives, so don’t worry about any toxic ingredients. CottonHi also offers shaved ice!
Location: 3825 W. 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Like The Loop Churros, Ridges Churro Bar unites churros and soft serve. The churro bar is nomadic, with its food truck traveling to different stops in LA each day. You can track its location via their Twitter page.
Location varies depending on location of food truck. No brick and mortar store.
If you want a break from ice cream, The Pie Hole is your go-to dessert shop. Like the name suggests, the Pie Hole offers gourmet pies in Pasadena. Their selection provides a fun twist to the original dessert; check out the cereal crumbled on top.
Dessert options include seasonal flavored pies like Key Lime and strawberry lavender. The Pie Hole also offers coffee, teas, savory foods and more, depending on your location.
Various Locations: Venice, Arts District, Pasadena, Hollywood, Glendale and Long Beach.
Wafflejack’s ice cream sandwiches are unforgettable. Not only do they offer delicious ice cream waffle sandwiches, but they also sell cheese-stuffed waffle sandwiches. Satisfy both your sweet tooth and your savory side!
You can also get waffle desserts spread with nutella and topped off with oreos, stawberries, bananas and more.
Various Locations: Culver City, Glendale, Riverside, Bakersfield, Hollywood and Northridge
Smorgasburg LA comes to downtown Los Angeles every summer. The food market includes hundreds of food vendors who offer their savory and sweet creations. Some of the ice cream shops have a well-known presence at Smorgasburg LA, but you can definitely find other unique vendors there, too. Don’t miss this food fair; your taste buds will thank you.
Address: 787 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
No more frantic searches for “ice cream places near me” when you’re in Los Angeles. These 50 ice cream and dessert shops are sure to tickle your taste buds in the city of angels, and we guarantee that you’ll be back for seconds.
